Ben Shahn

“I believe that if it were left to artists to choose their own labels, most would choose none.”

“Of all the arts, abstract painting is the most difficult. It demands that you know how to draw well, that you have a heightened sensitivity for composition and for colors, and that you be a true poet. This last is essential.”

“You might as well ask an artist to explain his art, or a poet his poem. It's in the doing.”

“The artist must be a reactor against the terror of the world. He must have a conscience and a will to change things for the better.”

“The function of the artist in a disturbed society is to give awareness of the universe, to ask the right questions, and to elevate the conscience.”

“Style is the shape of content.”

“I hate injustice. I despise the law. I'm a law-abiding citizen and I love my country, but I hate the law.”

“Photography is a tool for dealing with things everybody knows about but isn't attending to. My photographs are intended to represent something you don't see.”

“Great art is the outward expression of an inner life in the artist, and this inner life will result in his personal vision of the world.”

“Passion, you see, can be destroyed by a doctor. It cannot be created.”

“The values of art are not the values of the market.”